Beer-tapper.



No. 650,359. Patented May 22, I900. W. PRESTON.

B E E R TA P P E R.

(Application filed Feb. 5, 1900 i (No Model.)

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM PRESTON, OF ALEXANDRIA, INDIANA.

BEER-TAPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 650,359, dated May 22, 1906. Application filed February 5, 1900. Serial No. 4,140. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known/chat 1, WILLIAM PRESTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alexandria, in the county of Madison,'State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvementsin BeerTappers or a Combination Mallet,Wrench,and Bung-Extractor,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements .in instruments used in tapping beer-casks; and the objects of my invention are to provide a single tool adapted to disengage from casks the hollow metallic bung employed in connection with the beer pumps in general use in the retail beer trade and to secure the rapid and accurate adjustment in untapped casks of said bung and its appendages. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 2, a perspective view from above, and Fig. 3 a detail perspective view of an adjustable shoe or cushion.

Similarletters refer to similarparts throughout the several views.

The combination mallet, wrench, and bungextractor A in Fig. 1 is of metallic construction, afiordingahand-grip g and provided at one end with the hook e and the slot 1), formed to dovetail with the inserted portion of the adjustable shoe f to prevent the battering of the metallic bung with which it is brought in driving contact. Through A and its adjustable part passes the longitudinal groove d, partially conforming to the curvature of a drafttube, upon which it slides in the driving of a bung. The projections a a are flattened and pointed to enter the slots in the exposed surface of a check-valve revoluble' within a bung.

As indicated, the device is for use in connection with beer-pumps wherein a draft-tube connected with a faucet by rubber hose or other conductor passes through a metallic bung and check-valve. In common practice this bung is forced from a cask by blows from a mallet or other instrument, destroying the regularity of the bung-aperture, whereas the employment of this instrument when the hook e has been brought into prying contact with a branching air-tube on the body of said bung efiects its removal, using the bung as'a fulcrum without damage to the engaged surfaces.

In adjusting the bung and draft-tube toa full cask it is customary to disengage them from each other, place a cork in the end of" the bung to be inserted, and drive the bung without means of securing its vertical penetration of the orifice, thereby affording imperfect resistance to the pressure from with in, the eifect being leakage and uncleanliness. The. draft-tube is then pushed through the bung and a special wrench used to tighten the check-valve therein. In the use of my device no cork is required, the bung and draft-tube not being disconnected. The draft-tube being partially encircled thereby gives A when used as a mallet the function of a pile-driver, the draft-tube passing through the groove d, acting as a guide, insuring the delivery of a direct blow on the head of the bung and securing its vertical insertion. The check-valve is then tightened by a slight turn of the instrument, the projections a at having been inserted in the slots with which such valves are provided. The whole operation 'of changing the pump from one cask to another is thus rendered cleanly and is expeditiously efiected. The implements requisite hitherto in the process being combined in one, the chances of loss or misplacement are diminished. This tool rests naturally upon the bung last driven, being secured thereon by its partial engagement with the draft-tube passing through the groove d. The shoe f is in exterior form a projection of the end of the tool to which it is attached. It is composed of leather or other suitable cushioning material, the builtup part corresponding to the slot 1), with which it dovetails. The hook e is homogeneous with the body of the instrument and is curved to engage the surface of an air-tube branch of the metallic bung in general use.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The combination-inalongitudinally-grooved mallet of a shoe to prevent battering of object struck, a wrench provided with projections adapted to fit slots in check-valves used in connection with beer-pumps and a bungextractor adapted to clutch an air-tube branch of a metallic bung said bung serving as a fulcrum for its own rotation when the tool is moved in opposition to the resistance thus afforded.

WILLIAM PRESTON.

Witnesses:

JOHN MINOR, P. J. GOLDEN. 

